“Duke Alcede and I were actually planning to visit the villa today.”
“You could say no...”
“I begged His Majesty to allow me to do this. It would be quite selfish to go back on that now, wouldn’t it?”
Though Sidis grimaced, taken aback by her bluntness, he respected her resolution. “Lyse, just know that I have eyes for no one but you.”
“I know it well,” she responded with a warm smile.
Satisfied, Sidis thus left her room. Their conversation, however, lingered on Lyse’s mind and nagged at her. On her way to Egbert’s office, she happened to pass Atoli in the hall and asked her for a spot of advice.
“I can understand his not wanting me to be alone with a man I was once expected to marry. What I don’t understand is why—even though we’re in the middle of preparing for our wedding—he felt the need to tell me that he only has eyes for me,” Lyse explained. She was leery of the way Sidis was carrying on.
“If he were any other man, I would question his fidelity...”
“You think he’s cheating?”
Neither Lyse nor Atoli believed that Sidis would do such a thing.
“Sidis cannot even hide how obsessed—er, dedicated he is to you, so I truly cannot imagine him stooping to that. Moreover, His Majesty has already given the two of you his blessing. No one would dare intervene with your marriage,” Atoli answered before wavering. “It’s just that...”
“What is it?”
“It’s just that Prince Sidis’s imagination can run wild sometimes. Especially where it concerns you, Miss Lyse.”
Lyse couldn’t help but groan. She recalled how Sidis had behaved at their engagement banquet when she was invited to dance by other noblemen. Even Qatora would have understood that the gesture was mere social courtesy. “Today marks the first day of our betrothal, and I want you all to myself,” he’d whined to Lyse—and to everyone within earshot. The guests present at the time had all smiled awkwardly in reply and deferred to the prince.
“Perhaps something unexpected has inspired this spate of jealousy,” Atoli suggested.
“Perhaps indeed...”
Lyse had no idea what the cause might be, but she knew she wanted to put him at ease during this stressful time. She hadn’t been able to help noticing the dark circles under his eyes that morning from a lack of sleep. Thus she decided to proceed with her plan.
That afternoon, Lyse accompanied Alcede and Karl to the imperial villa. The sight that met her there was shocking, to say the least. One of the wooden columns in the atrium now had a protrusion jutting from it, just like a branch growing from the trunk of a tree.
“How is this possible?” she muttered.
“Warped mana from the Light of Origin, I’d say,” replied Alcede.
“Could one of the Light’s discharges have caused it?” Lyse theorized, thinking about how the Light’s intensity spiked every time it rang out.
Alcede nodded in agreement. “That would make sense. The columns here would be quite susceptible to it as they were crafted with magic, and the non-magical furniture shows no change whatsoever.”
“I had never imagined this would happen.” Lyse could understand people having their mana warped, resulting in sprouting horns or transforming into dogs, but wood and stone being warped? She’d never expected that.
“I mean, the Light is made of mana,” Karl remarked as he beheld the sprouting column. “Still, it doesn’t cease to astound me even after hearing the truth about it and all my research into magical formulae.” With that, he took a pen and notepad out of his pocket to sketch the mutated column.
“Is that for your research notes?” Lyse asked innocently.
“No, it’s simply a hobby. I like to keep a record of what I see.” After a few strokes of his pen, Karl stowed his stationery away. “The Light both amplifies and morphs mana. The only possible explanation is that it’s magical, yet there are many who believe it to be the power of the gods. They should be skeptical since there’s no evidence to support that.”
Unsurprisingly, the truth about the Light had profoundly affected Karl. After all, everyone believed it to be divine. Learning that it was simply a product of imperial magic was world-shaking. In fact, it was impressive how well Karl had taken the news. Lyse had learned of it when she was reincarnated. If she’d told anyone before now, they would have written her off as a liar or, worse, imprisoned her for blasphemy against the state.
“Anyway, how goes the inquest?” Alcede inquired.
“It’s hardly going at all. I’ve tried all sorts of metals, ores, and formulae, but I can’t really get a good grasp of what I’m seeing,” Karl replied, shaking his head. This was worrying for Lyse, as the lack of progress would only prolong the current situation. Karl, however, was rather delighted. “That said, learning about the Light of Origin is a great honor for me.”
There was an even bigger secret at play here. One so well guarded that Karl had been magically sworn to silence from even his parents, the duke and duchess. One that allowed him to be here in his element, granting him not only rare access to the villa but also the opportunity to research the magic that had given birth to the Light. Karl was wearing that very secret on his wrist—a bracelet of Donan stone. Such was not its proper name, but the black crystalline rock had no official designation. Wearing it while out and about would draw the attention of monsters, but here in the villa, it provided Karl with protection against the energy emitted from the pillar of Light.
“But, erm, will she be all right?” he asked. Lyse had no idea what he meant.
“Oh, yes. You did mention that in your report. Well, Lyse has been granted permission to be here, and it’s something she’s bound to find out eventually. Just a matter of time, I’d say,” replied Alcede with a smile.
“That may very well be true, but...” Karl hesitated before continuing, “Well, I suspect it will be a bit of a shock.” His concern and sympathy only served to worry Lyse further.
“It shouldn’t be a problem. She’s not alone.”
“I’m not alone?” Lyse asked, hoping for some answers.
Alcede laughed awkwardly. “Ah, not to worry, Miss Lyse. This extraordinary surprise will be the experience of a lifetime,” he said, adding yet more fuel on the fire of her anxiety.
Lyse prepared herself as best she could, then laid eyes on the so-called surprise.
“I... That...” Her words caught in her throat.
Fourteen Egberts surrounded the brilliant pillar, some standing nearby and some silently sitting in the shadowy corners of the atrium. That was shock enough, but amidst the emperor’s clones...was a woman carrying a young boy on her shoulders. They looked frighteningly like Lyse and a younger Sidis—rather, they were unmistakably Lyse and a younger Sidis. That said, Sidis seemed to be having a great deal of fun.
“Oh, woe is you. How terrible it must be to possess the Light. That must be why this has happened, methinks,” quipped Alcede.
“You don’t say...” Lyse was able to deduce as much based on the presence of a clone for both herself and Sidis—but that didn’t explain the increasing number of Egberts. The emperor wasn’t a Light bearer, so what had triggered all this and why was he the first affected?
“See? You’re not alone. It’s fine, right?” Alcede prodded.
“While I do see that Lord Sidis is here too, I fail to see how any of this is ‘fine.’”
“You know, Sidis was more than okay with this. He was practically overjoyed.”
Lyse glanced back at her doppelganger with kid Sid still on her shoulders, still clinging to her and still beaming broadly. That’s when it clicked. This is why Sidis didn’t want me to come. Sidis had already seen his younger self indulging in his fantasies, and he’d surely basked in it too since he—as Lyse knew for a fact—still loved to be carried. He didn’t want me to come here because he’s embarrassed by how much he cherishes such memories from all those years ago.
“I can’t exactly carry him on my shoulders anymore, but I would definitely carry him in my arms.” Lyse didn’t think it was something to be bashful about. All he had to do was ask, and she’d be happy to oblige.
Her muttering caught Alcede’s attention. “Miss Lyse, did you truly mean that?”
“Being held isn’t so unusual. I’m more than strong enough to do it, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t make him happy.”
“Well, usually that’s a man’s job. I’d imagine that even most imperial men would be embarrassed to be carried so, but I suppose we are getting a glimpse of Sidis’s true desires.”
“He was rather happy when I carried him last time,” she said. She was recalling the time she’d tried to give Sidis a taste of his own medicine—a plan that had backfired spectacularly.
“You mean...” Alcede trailed off before he mumbled to himself, “His condition is even worse than I thought.”
As they chatted, Karl set about his work for the day. His first task was to determine what kind of magic had been used. For this, he had two options: either cast a spell to detect the formulae, or use ores that reacted to them. The ore route required continuous testing, as different minerals reacted to different magic.